Siemens provides $955 million in software licenses to Thomas Nelson Community College

Siemens, a global electrical engineering and electronics company, is giving Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton access to its design and product life cycle management software in a workforce grant estimated to be worth $954.7 million.

Siemens is giving nearly $2 billion worth of in-kind software to seven colleges and universities in Virginia as part of its ongoing academic partnership program. The announcement came during a manufacturing workforce conference at the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing south of Richmond on Wednesday. Old Dominion University is slated to receive $746 million worth of the software licensing and ECPI University $130.3 million in in-kind software.

"Here in Virginia, where shipbuilding is core to the state's economy, it's important we equip students with the tools that will help them build the world's most complex ships for the U.S. Navy, such as the Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers," Siemens PLM Software President and CEO Chuck Grindstaff said in a statement.

Texas-based Siemens PLM Software, which maintains a sales and service office in Newport News City Center that focuses on shipbuilding, is supplying Thomas Nelson with 3,000 licenses for software that can be used for computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering and product management. The move comes as Newport News Shipbuilding transitions to Siemen's software, meaning it needs to train more than 2,000 workers on the new system, said Buz Jenkins, manager of technical skills development at the shipyard, during a conference panel. The shipyard began the transition about two years ago.

Thomas Nelson expects it could use the granted licenses to train up to 2,600 local workers, including up to 1,200 from the shipyard, over the next four years, said Deborah Wright, Thomas Nelson's vice president for workforce development.

The community college would also make customized training for planners, managers, designers and engineers available for small companies and shipyard contractors in the region, Wright said. While the employers would pay for the training, they wouldn't have to pay for licenses.

Thomas Nelson will also integrate the use of the software in two computer-aided drafting and two engineering technology courses so that up to 400 students can use it for assignments that include engineering simulation and industrial design.

"When we can hire engineers with expertise in software that we already use in industry, it certainly makes the learning curve much shorter, the startup time shorter," said Becky Stewart, vice president of manufacturing for Newport News Shipbuilding. "Those folks are more valuable when they enter the gate."

Newport News Shipbuilding, which employs about 24,000 workers, continually has a need for skilled workers, Stewart said. The company works with community colleges across the state and uses its apprentice school to ensure that pipeline.

This partnership with Siemens illustrates the type of collaboration that can be accomplished with Thomas Nelson's proposed Advanced Integrated Manufacturing Center, said TNCC President John Dever. The vision is to have a facility that works with regional manufacturers to train potential employees on the high-tech equipment and computer systems required for various facets of advanced manufacturing, including 3-D printing and rapid prototyping in a "fab lab."

The first phase toward that goal is to bolster the college's workforce development programs like with the Siemens partnership, Wright said. Product life cycle management software would also be integrated into programs an AIM Center. Next, the college would find an interim facility to provide space for computer-aided manufacturing on machines, she said. The idea is to provide employers with mid-level multiskilled technicians who can understand the entire process.

"This is just the beginning," Wright said.

The Daily Press did not attend the conference but watched from a live online feed.

Bozick can be reached by phone at 757-247-4741. Sign up for free weekday business news email at TidewaterBiz.com.